An Engineered Ecosystem for Waste Management and Food Production

The idea behind Full Circle Feed was developed by Michael Amadori for his M.S. thesis in Ecological Engineering at the SUNY- College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, NY. Fish feed pellets were created using human food leftovers from the campus dining hall. The fish were grown in an aquaponic system where the tank water provides nutrients and is cleaned by a gravel bed growing vegetable crops. From a waste product he created three value added goods: fish, vegetables, and feed pellets.

To learn more you can visit some of the media outlets that covered the story including: YNN, MSNBC, and NPR.

STUDENT BUSINESS COMPETITIONS

Full Circle Feed got its start by winning a student business competition with the venture title "Zero-Waste Food Processing". A hybrid urban farm / processing facility was the original vision. Besides creating fish feed for an aquaponic system we would also raise chickens on the pellets created from food leftovers.

However, once Michael brought home the fish feed, his pug Scooter devoured the feed. So we made a slight pivot and started producing dog treats instead! Eventually we plan to expand our product line and offer cat treats and perhaps feeds for fish and chickens to create a closed loop system for food production.

STARTUP LABS BUSINESS COMPETITION

Startup Labs Syracuse was a three week program providing seed capital, mentorship and technical support to teams in an effort to help validate their team and business model to later stage investors. Full Circle feed was one of 5 finalists and will be using the investment funds to purchase our own equipment and sell our first products on store shelves!

THE CLEANTECH OPEN ACCELERATOR

The Cleantech Open is a not-for-profit organization that runs the world’s largest accelerator for cleantech startups. Their mission is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges! Full Circle Feed participated in their accelerator program during the Fall 2014.